Amrita Srivastava
Wrote a review 2 - 2025
Tham Phay cave and Ba Be were good. Villages can be consolidated as they do not take a lot of time
Review of: Tham Phay cave expedition & Jungle trekking 4 days 3 nights
Ba Be jungle house was excellent but others were poor. Some suggestions: 1. Make alternate plans based on weather
2. Should have supplies like umbrellas for foreigners
3. Addition activities
4. Consolidate trips based on preferences of customers, more activities or place, things to do of customers want
5. Better quality homestay
Date of experience: 2 2025
KyleKoh
Wrote a review 4 - 2023
Great mix of hiking and adventure with no crowds
Review of: Hang Tham Phay expedition tour & Jungle trekking 4 days 3 nights
My father and I had a wonderful experience in Ba Be, thanks to the very well planned and executed tour organised by Mr Linh's Adventures and led by our marvellous guide, Giang.
Helen was helpful during planning. We exchanged a few emails to determine what I was looking for and ultimately she suggested Ba Be for a mix of hiking, kayaking and caving. Her recommendation was spot on!
I was impressed in equal measure by (i) the locales we visited, (ii) the fo...Read Moreod we enjoyed; and (iii) the way in which the tour was run. Though the tour is somewhat pricey by Vietnamese standards, the experiences it gives you are priceless.
Ba Be is wonderful and the itinerary takes you off the beaten path in a far more authentic way than I expected. There were no signposts during most of our hikes and the contours of the incredible Hua Ma Cave are known only to the villagers in the area. Many of the routes are unnavigable without a guide. While we met a few other visitors at the homestay, we encountered no other tourists while kayaking, hiking and caving. It was so peaceful!
The itinerary is perfectly paced. The first day entails the most hiking. The second day has some light hiking, but since you spend a few hours on a boat, you get a bit of a rest. The third day (the caving) is true adventure.
Over the course of 3 full days in Ba Be, we trekked through the jungle, passed several villages (and had a meal in a couple of them) and met the locals. At times (particularly in the Hua Ma Cave), we felt like intrepid explorers, exploring parts that (thanks to the low water levels in the cave that day) even the local guide hadn't seen before! Though we accomplished much, we never felt rushed and were assured that we could take our time enjoying the scenery and proceed at our own pace.
Owing to heavy rain, we weren't able to hike to Mr Hung's homestay. Instead, we spent 4 very comfortable nights at Mr Linh's homestay, which is actually run by Mr Linh's father. The staff treated us with great hospitality and the food and drink were both delicious and plentiful! We were also lucky enough to cross paths with and spend some time with Mr Linh himself, a warm, energetic and gregarious spirit.
Our guide, Giang, deserves special mention. Giang shepherded us throughout and went out of his way to make sure we were always well taken care of. He was solicitous of our needs but never intrusive; on the occasions where my dad retired early for the evening, Giang would invite me to join the staff table at dinner, where I was made to feel like part of the family.
Thank you Giang!
I would strongly recommend this trip to anyone who wants a great mix of hiking and adventure with no crowds in sight.
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Date of experience: 4 2023
K Han
Wrote a review 11 - 2023
Explored a cave
Review of: Hang Tham Phay expedition tour & Jungle trekking 4 days 3 nights
The tour was well organised. My wife and I visited the Ba Be national park. There were some itinerary changes due to the weather but totally understandable. The cave exploration was exciting to say the least and it was an experience of a lifetime. Giang was a great tour guide. A few things I would suggest would be to give more information about the itinerary. We needed to trek about 3km to the cave entrance and it was more treacherous than the cave itself. It would be nice to have been t...Read Moreold so we would be a bit more prepared
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Date of experience: 11 2023
Michael
Wrote a review 8 - 2023
Great experience in the jungle
Review of: Hang Tham Phay expedition tour & Jungle trekking 4 days 3 nights
We had a good travel guide with detailed knowledge of Vietnam (nickname Billy). Mr. Linh's Homestay is a good choice. Overnight, service, food - everything fits. The jungle tour is exhausting but very interesting, thanks also to the local guides. Afterwards, we could relaxe during the boat trip on the lake and along the river. We had a great time.
Date of experience: 8 2018
Dear Michael, great to hear from you so soon! Thank you very much for your review, we greatly appreciate it. You conquered the jungle in Ba Be congratulations! We are very glad to hear that you liked your time there and the company of the local people. We hope to see you again! Mr Linh's Adventures
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Sofia C
Wrote a review 12 - 2023
Ba Bei Cycling and Trekking AdventureTrip
Review of: Hang Tham Phay expedition tour & Jungle trekking 4 days 3 nights
We are a family of 5, 2 parents above 50 years old, a daughter aged 24 and 2 sons aged 12 and 16 from Singapore.
We booked a 4 day 3 night adventure trip to Ba Be with Mr Linh's Adventures and had a wonderful experience. From booking to the trip itself, Mr Linh's Adventures provided excellent services, accomodating to our needs and tweaking their standard iterinary to meet our requirements.
Our guide, Nha, was friendly, experienced and handled situat...Read Moreions that cropped up with expertise and efficiency. When the cycling turned out to be too strenous, he arranged for bikes speedily for us to pillion ride part of the route, so we could still enjoy the beautiful terrain view in comfort.
On Day 2, my son had an unfortunate sprain while we were trekking up the hilly terrain. Again, Nha saved the day with his quick arrangement of a bike and a first aid kit.
Being animal lovers, we also had an unexpected pleasant surprise when Bu, the homestay's dog, went trekking with us for more than 8 hours on Day 2.
The beautiful terrain view, the cool weather and our friendly and experienced guide made the whole adventure an awesome experience for our family of 5.
Thank you,Nha and Mr Linh's Adventures. We will definitely recommend all nature and animal lovers to go on this adventure trip with Nha and Mr Linh's Adventures.
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Date of experience: 12 2018
Thank you Sofia for your kind and detailed review. We’re so happy to hear that you enjoyed your time with us in Ba Be National Park. We’re also glad that you felt satisfied with Nha’s service, as he’s one of our best I’m sure Bu misses you greatly and I hope we get to serve you again in the future! Sincere regards, Linh.
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lawrencegk2018
Wrote a review 3 - 2023
Well planned and adventurous trek with minority group guide
Review of: Hang Tham Phay expedition tour & Jungle trekking 4 days 3 nights
We were extremely fortunate to be guided by Mr. Hung, a Dao village farmer who was charming, well informed and spoke good English. He led us up a steep hike to his remote village where we stayed overnight in his comfortable homestay. His family joined us for dinner that had good vegetarian and meat dishes. The following day we walked through more minority group villages to a waterfall then travelled by river boat into a large cave, then across Ba Be Lake to Mr. Linh's homestay. The s...Read Morecenery and variety of experience was everything we would wish for. This tour was more authentic then one would get around Sapa, and certainly much more peaceful. Mr. Linh's homestay on Ba Be Lake is in a perfect location and has very good facilities. The communication with the office in Hanoi, with Kevin was prompt and unambiguous. We would strongly recommend Mr. Linh's tours to anyone who seeks an adventure away from overcrowded destinations in Northern Vietnam.
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Date of experience: 3 2018
chewy8406
Wrote a review 3 - 2023
Ba be 4 day jungle life tour
Review of: Hang Tham Phay expedition tour & Jungle trekking 4 days 3 nights
We did the the 4 day jungle life tour to get a feel for off the beaten track northern Vietnam. It was exceptional. Our tour guide Minh was excellent with the best English out of all tour guides I'd met in Vietnam so far. He felt like a friend of ours towards the end of the tour and it was sad to see him leave. But he knew equally when to back off and let us have our own time (my wife and I were on our honeymoon). Nguyen our driver was also nice and punctual throughout the whole tour....Read More Most significantly on the tour we decided on day 2 to change plans from staying outdoors in the jungle and asking for a homestay instead. Minh happily arranged this change for us with little stress. This really helped our experience. We also got to stay at the homestay of hung that night who was a superb host. If you do this tour I would highly recommend staying with hung for a night as it was the most hospitable part of our entire tour of Vietnam. Lots of happy water and food with his family and friends! The scenery in the park is absolutely stunning. I would put this above sapa because here you get terraced rice paddies but also some lakes and rivers and caves too, so much more scenery and breathtaking landscape to absorb. My wife also has allergies to gluten, garlic and onion which can be difficult when travelling but Minh helpfully went up to each chef in each restaurant and explained her conditions making each meal a success. I strongly recommend this tour to someone looking to sample rural northern Vietnam away from the crowds. We met only 1 other western tourist over the 4 days.....
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Date of experience: 3 2018
Balázs P
Wrote a review 4 - 2023
Authentic trekking among the tribes without any other tourist.
Review of: Hang Tham Phay expedition tour & Jungle trekking 4 days 3 nights
We wanted something authentic, and something in the nature during our 2 weeks vietnamese trip. We booked than a 4 day-3 night trip with Mr. Linh. I picked them because the Ba Be national park website directed me to their site. Kevin was very eager and helpful during the booking through emails. We wanted Babe and not Sapa, which is infamously touristic. There were 5 of us, so it was a bit cheaper per person, but we have to admit that it was still very pricy (comparing to other local touri...Read Morestic activities), around 310 usd per person. BUT the program was kinda flexible, and we got a 12 seater van for 5 of us so it was kinda comfortable. The way to the north is really long, full of with serpentines, those who can get sick of it it is better to take some pills in advance. Driver was very fast, yes sometimes it looked dangerous, but very effective, and fast:D The trekking was the best part, our guide Lhoan told us many things among the tribes, and we can see them living in their villages. Our first homestay was excellent, the host family was very adorable. Good food, and strong rice wine:D Second homestay, the mr. Linh Homestay is the best, very well equipped. our third homestay was good too, with friendly host family. But unfortunately we had to ask for a normal hotel this time, because some of us had already been sick, caught cold, and the homestay had no heating. Inside temperature was 4 celsius. It is very important thta those who pick this trip have proper clothing against cold, and rain. It was unusal cold that time, 4-6celsius degrees during the morning. It was just something we would not expected. We have also watched Ben gioc waterfall, and Tiger cave. It 's all very beautiful, not so turistic, so you can have it for yourself, but we had to travel a lot .
Summing up: If you want some authentic experience far from the cities far from the other tourists, dont mind having to sleep in simple homestays, wish to travel a lot and hike a lot than this is for you!
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Date of experience: 4 2023